Originally published at: TEG+ ACQUIRES STAGE RIGHTS TO THE BELOVED CHILDREN’S BOOK HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON -
Author: Newsroom
TEG+ has acquired the stage rights to the beloved children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon and is adapting it into a Broadway musical with new and original songs composed by Jack and Ryan Met of the band AJR. Harold (once the baby in the classic book) is now a young adult facing real-life problems — and learning that he can no longer rely on his magical purple crayon. TEG+ is currently in the process of securing a book writer for the musical adaptation.
“We adored Harold and The Purple Crayon growing up, and we thought: what if we saw Harold as a young adult, realizing that his problems are too profound to simply draw away.” stated AJR. “Vivek’s incredible musical work and his passion for this idea made him the perfect partner for the reimagining of the classic story.”
Vivek adds, “The first time I heard AJR, I was struck by the theatricality of their hit songs. To be collaborating with AJR in adapting a classic and beloved story as Harold and the Purple Crayon into a modern musical is quite literally this fanboy’s dream come true.”
Harold and the Purple Crayon joins the previously announced limited TV series The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story. The Fifth Beatle is the only project about Brian Epstein with Beatles music/songs rights in place, and is the first non-documentary bio project about the Beatles to have secured access to their music/songs. Harold and the Purple Crayon and The Fifth Beatle are part of a slate of ten new projects revolving around high profile music, the rest of which will be announced in the coming months.
TEG+ has named Elie Landau as Chief Operating Officer. Elie Landau is a veteran entertainment industry executive with more than 25 years of experience as a producer and manager. An Emmy and two-time Tony Award nominee, Elie’s recent producing credits on Broadway include the upcoming revival of Funny Girl starring Beanie Feldstein, Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower starring Amy Schumer, and You’re Welcome America starring Will Ferrell, as well as the award-winning documentary film “Paper Clips”. In addition to his role at TEG+, he currently serves as co-General Manager for the forthcoming Broadway production of The Little Prince and General Manager for The Museum of Broadway, opening later this year in Times Square.
This news comes on the heels of Vivek J. Tiwary’s recent announcement of an equity investment to launch TEG+, expanding on his award-winning work at Tiwary Entertainment Group (Jagged Little Pill, American Idiot). With the recent addition of former Netflix and Donners’ Company exec, Jack Leslie, as Co-President and Head of Film + Television, TEG+ is primed to make an immediate impact in film and television. New company TEG+ will focus entirely on working with high profile original music, premier established music catalogs, A-list musicians and composers — creating narrative entertainment for all forms of media and technology (stage, film, TV, NFT’s, etc.).
TEG+ investors include industry leaders Primary Wave Music, Nas, Aasif Mandvi, Steve Greenberg, Andrew Rasiej, Reynold D’Silva / Silva Screen among others. TEG+ advisory board members include Damian Bazadona (founder of Situation, a digital-first marketing agency), Rob Cavallo (record producer and music executive), Jonathan Daniel (founder of full-service music company CRUSH), Tom Kitt (Broadway orchestrator, arranger, and composer), Savan Kotecha (song writer + producer – Ariana Grande, One Direction, The Weeknd), Dave Liu (CEO of Liucrative Endeavors and president of La Mesa Capital), Charlie Lyons (producer and media executive), Dr. Charles Platkin (entrepreneur, public health advocate, TV host, and bestselling author), Stefan Schick (a partner at Loeb & Loeb, LLP), and Debbie White (partner at Loeb & Loeb, LLP).
About AJR: Re-envisioning what pop can be in the 21st century, AJR unassumingly emerged as a ubiquitous hit- making outlier and one of the biggest indie bands in the world. Since 2012, the multiplatinum indie pop trio—Adam [bass, vocals], Jack [vocals, guitar], and Ryan [ukulele, piano, vocals]—have generated billions of streams and earned one triple-platinum single, one double-platinum single, four platinum singles, and one platinum album. 2019’s Neotheater marked their biggest first-week debut, bowing at #8 on the Billboard Top 200, #1 on the Top Alternative Albums Chart, and #1 on the Top Rock Albums Chart. Cemented as part of the modern zeitgeist, Spotify touted “Sober Up” [feat. Rivers Cuomo] among the “Best Rock Songs of the 2010s,” while Apple Music included “Weak” on its “Best Alt Songs of the 2010s.” Not to mention, they remain one of the “500 Most-Listened to Artists” on Spotify. On the heels of Neotheater, they dropped the 2020 platinum blockbuster “BANG!”, which they performed on TODAY, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and even at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade during a pandemic. Now, the band open up their world like never before on their fourth full-length album, OK ORCHESTRA [S-Curve/BMG], introduced by the single “Way Less Sad.”
About Elie Landau: Elie Landau is a veteran entertainment industry executive with more than 25 years of experience as a producer, manager, and creative consultant.
An Emmy and two-time Tony Award nominee, Elie’s producing credits on Broadway include the upcoming revival of Funny Girl starring Beanie Feldstein, Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower starring Amy Schumer, You’re Welcome America starring Will Ferrell, Speed-the-Plow, The Homecoming, November, and the Tony-winning 2003 revival of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, as well as the award-winning documentary film “Paper Clips”.
As a manager, his career has included stints in the offices of James B. Freydberg and Robert Kamlot, at Jujamcyn Theaters, and 17 years at 101 Productions, Ltd., where his credits included the Broadway productions of Spamalot, Lucky Guy starring Tom Hanks, the Broadway, touring, and international companies of The Addams Family, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Seminar, Romeo & Juliet, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Neil Patrick Harris, for which he also served as Executive Producer of its Grammy-nominated original cast recording.
From Fall 2015 through Spring 2019, Elie served as Executive Producer for Triptyk Studios, where he oversaw the financial and operational components of the company’s development and production slate, which included theatre, as well as film, television, and web-based productions.
For the past three years, he has served as an independent consultant for a wide variety of creative producers and arts organizations including New York City Center (Encores!), Broadway Entertainment Group, Broadway Community Project, Becoming Broadway 2021, SubCulture NYC, CharityBids, and Multipleoutlet Productions.
In addition to his role as Chief Operating Officer at TEG+, Elie also currently serves as co-General Manager for the forthcoming Broadway production of The Little Prince and General Manager for The Museum of Broadway, opening in Times Square later this year.
He is a proud graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of The Broadway League, and a board-certified member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers.
About Vivek J. Tiwary: Vivek J. Tiwary is an acclaimed producer of musical entertainment from Tony Award-winning Broadway shows to groundbreaking immersive experiences, a Grammy Award-winning record producer, a #1 New York Times bestselling author and a media financier/investor. He is the founder of Tiwary Entertainment Group(TiwaryEnt.com).
Tiwary is currently the lead producer of Broadway hit Jagged Little Pill (based on Alanis Morissette’s classic album), winner of 2 Tony Awards. Tiwary also won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for producing the Jagged Little Pill cast recording. Past Broadway productions Tiwary has either been a financier or Producer on include such groundbreaking work as Green Day’s American Idiot, A Raisin In The Sun, The Addams Family, A Little Night Music, and both of Mel Brooks’ musicals The Producers and Young Frankenstein. Combined, these productions have won 25 Tony Awards and 59 Tony nominations.
Tiwary’s graphic novel The Fifth Beatle won numerous literary awards including the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award and two Harvey Awards. It’s a Lambda Literary Finalist for Best LGBT Graphic Novel and has been added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives. Tiwary secured unprecedented access to Beatles music for its TV adaptation, for which Vivek is writer + Executive Producer.
A pioneering producer in the world of site-specific, tech-based, and immersive theatre, Tiwary consulted on the creation and development of The Walking Dead Escape and The Walking Dead Experience. He served on the Board of Directors for New York’s seminal GAle GAtes—considered to be the founders of immersive theatre. He also produced experiential shows and installations for boundary-pushing companies such as The Wooster Group, Fischerspooner, and the São Paulo Art Biennial.
Prior to founding TEG and online music education/empowerment company StarPolish, Tiwary held a number of major label music-industry positions and has worked with artists covering the entire musical spectrum from Bruce Springsteen to Britney Spears.
Among many charitable pursuits, Tiwary is the Co-Founder of Musicians On Call, a nonprofit organization that uses music and entertainment to complement the healing process and is a two-time honoree (2020, 2021) of Gold House’s A100 List to celebrate Asians and Asian American & Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and their transformative contributions to society.
Tiwary is represented by Angela Cheng Caplan at Cheng Caplan Company and Lawrence Kopeikin at Kopeikin Law PC.
About Jack Leslie: Prior to joining TEG+, Jack served at Netflix as the Director for Original Family Films, where he was responsible for finding, developing, and overseeing production of projects that fit into the kids/teens/family space, many of them music driven. Some of his Netflix projects include A Week Away, True Spirit, and Kenny Ortega’s Auntie Claus. Prior to Netflix, Jack was President of Production at The Donners’ Company, working closely with Lauren Shuler Donner (X-Men, Deadpool) and the late Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon, Superman). During his tenure with the Donners, Jack was responsible for finding and developing properties for Mrs. Donner to produce and Mr. Donner to direct. These included Lethal Weapon 5, The Secret Life of Bees, Hotel for Dogs, She’s the Man (which Jack also co-wrote), The Vampire’s Assistant, and more. Jack’s first job as an executive was at Fox 2000, developing such projects as Never Been Kissed, Flicka, Aquamarine, Dragon Ball Z, and Fever Pitch.